Neptune with its rings you’ve never seen in James-Webb’s eyes

Neptune, the last planet in the solar system, was revealed in infrared by James-Webb. The most sophisticated space telescope ever launched gives us a rare picture of the ice giant’s rings. Enigmatic moon Triton appears brighter than Neptune.

After an impressive film Thursday This summer, March A few days ago, here is the third planet The Solar SystemThe Solar System target TelescopeTelescope James-Webb, the most distant of all: Neptune.

UnlikeHubble observed Neptune in the visiblepenetrating gaze JWSTJWST nearby InfraredInfrared Here reveals the characteristics of the eighth and last planet of the solar system (since omitted PlutoPluto) we are not used to seeing.

The first of these are his rings. The AstronomersAstronomers They were again amazed by the space telescope’s ability to detect the most obscure and dim parts of a celestial object. As for the ice giant, the rings were best seen by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989. Very thin, protective rings of dust that you can see with many moons like Galatea. and Despina. If you look closely, another ring appears near the planet, barely visible.

Fun colors of Neptune

In these images, the planet appears to glow like a disco ball in the evening, especially at its highest point latitudeslatitudes and to the Poles. These are highly reflective active areas the lightthe light from the sunthe sun than othersAtmosphereAtmosphere Neptune is very homogeneous and dark because of the highly absorbent methane.

Another detail that has not escaped researchers is the existence of nodes edgeedge White, very soft, including oneequatorequatorAnd undoubtedly treachery Atmospheric circulationAtmospheric circulationexplained in NASANASA. Since implicitly mattermatter moves equatorward from cooler high latitudes and shines more in the infrared as it warms, wavelengthswavelengths James-Webb and his wireless camera sensitivity that captured him.

Moon Triton shines brighter than Neptune in the James-Webb image

Jumps to what EyesEyes Moon is also present in this picture DrydenDrydenTop left NeptuneBrighter than giant planetgiant planet himself. It even looks like one StarStar Astounding sensorsensor By James Webb. She didn’t, of course. Much smaller than the planet (2,700 km in diameter), Dryden It is a rocky celestial body that has greatly fascinated astronomers OverviewOverview Voyager 2. By appearance and features BodyBodyIt is reminiscent of Pluto because it is covered in iceNitrogenNitrogen (It reflects 70% of the Sun’s light, which is why Triton outshines Neptune in JWST’s view), and through Around the circular pathAround the circular path Around Neptune, they suspect it has been around The Kuiper BeltThe Kuiper Belt (30 to 50 Astronomical unitsAstronomical units)

Others, even tiny moons you’ve never heard of, are visible in this image. There are seven of the 14 known: Triton, and therefore, within Neptune’s rings, Galatea, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, and finally Larissa.

Discovered 176 years ago, this ice giant is a complementary view that changes the conventional view of the planet.